Electoral contestants for Chisinau mayoralty

Valeri Klimenko
Candidate of the Republican Socio-political Movement "Ravnopravie" (Equality)

Electoral slogan:
No one will help the national minorities if they do not help themselves!

Biography

Valeri Klimenko was born in 1953 in the region Ural of the Russian Federation. He is of Russian nationality. After he graduated from the secondary school in Ukraine, he did his military service as a submarine in the Northern Fleet of the USSR. He took part in long lasting military campaigns. Later, he graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the "I. Franko" University in L'vov. He worked in the Ukrainian and Moldovan media. Since 1985 he has studied history and applied sociology and in 1993 he got his PhD from a Moscow university. In 1997 he set up the Russian Community in Chisinau, and later the Congress of Russian Communities in Moldova. In 1998 he was elected Chairperson of the Republican Socio-political Movement "Ravnopravie" (Equality), on whose party list he was elected as municipal councilor. Since 2002 he has been member of the Council of Co-nationals under the Russian Duma. He is married and has one daughter. He speaks Russian and Ukrainian.

Electoral programme

Fighting poverty

The mass poverty of the residents of Chisinau is due to dilettante administration. Once the activity of many enterprises was stopped, hundreds of thousands of people remained without any sources to support themselves. An insignificant number of them started small businesses. Most of them survive on the meagre pensions of their parents of the income made from temporary jobs.

One of the priorities of the Movement Ravnopravie (Equality) is to create the optimal conditions for a decent living for all. For this purpose we will ask the central power, unable to revive the municipal industry, to pass inefficient enterprises into the administration of municipal authorities and subsequently turn them into enterprises with mixed capital, primarily of Russian provenance.

It is to be noted that in the processes new jobs will be created, With a decent and stable income, the resident of Chisinau will be able to pay regularly for their communal services, buy more food, cloths, which fact will result in more dynamic commercial relations, the development of services etc. This is how we will alleviate poverty.

Our movement joins representatives of all national minorities, including entrepreneurs and public officers of Russian origin, who have close ties with the Russian Federation and are willing to help revive the economy of the municipality and gradually fight poverty.

Fighting corruption

Chisinau is not only the capital of the country, it is also the centre of corruption.

Official and non-official fees need to be paid whenever we address public officers with an issue. Sometimes, we are asked to pay dozens of thousands of dollars. It appears that our society have become used to this dangerous phenomenon. Our Movement can not tolerate such a state of affairs.

We have to break out of the vicious circle of nepotism, which is the only criterion for professional promotion at present. Merit is our only criterion for promotion.

We will set up, within the municipal administration, a special unit who will work together with the law enforcement bodies to examine the complaints related to the implication of public figures in corruption scandals. Only by joining our efforts can we fight this dangerous phenomenon.

Reintegrating the society

Chisinau is a multi-national city. Almost 52% of residents are Russian, Ukrainian, Gagauz, Belarussian etc. They are full-fledged citizens of this country. The Constitution envisages equal rights for all nationalities, yet in practice over the past 10 years their rights have been constantly violated. First of all, their access to public offices has been limited.

We represent primarily the interests of ethnic minorities living in Chisinau and will fight any form of discrimination against them. We will try to secure unhindered access to important offices in the municipal administration. Only so can we really reintegrate our society and achieve civic consensus.

Health assistance

Many believe that insured health assistance will solve all the problems automatically. It is not so by far. Firstly because the municipal hospitals are not technically ready to provide quality medical assistance. They lack the equipment, tools and technologies. Our movement will address this problem by proposing to allocate from the municipal budget funds to buy advanced medical equipment.

Our Movement will also support the institution of a support fund for the municipal medical institutions, which will also be used to pay the salaries of medical nurses.

Budget

The unfair distribution of funds from the municipal budget has become a common practice. The local authorities, instead of investing the money into gas supply schemes and the infrastructure of the city to improve the living conditions of its residents, give the money to the villages from the periphery of Chisinau who work less and only profit on the account of the residents of Chisinau. This practice is due to the fact that it us in these peripheral villages that most of the supporters of the current Mayor of Chisinau live.

With a large representation in the future municipal Council we will insist that the money collected from the residents of Chisinau be spent in their interests.

Housing

Many residents of Chisinau have lost hope of ever having a house of their own. Thus, even if the municipal budget is tight, we will insist that at least one apartment bloc be built every year, which apartments will be given free of charge to the poorest residents of Chisinau.

Thermal energy

The bills for thermal energy are unaffordable to the majority of the resident of Chisinau. The bills are at the centre of endless arguments between the local and central powers. It is the ordinary people who suffer though. We believe that the issue can be solved by gradually passing to autonomous heating of hospitals, schools, kindergartens, apartment blocs and enterprises. This way the cost of thermal energy will be cut two to three times. The local authorities will have to cover part of the expenditures on installing systems of autonomous heating in apartment blocs.

The small-sized business

The economies of developed states are founded primarily on an efficient business environment. In our town, authorities abuse the representatives of small sized businesses. We will strive for the re-establishment of the rights of business people. The controls that these are subjected to should not harm their rights. We will plead for the reduction of the frequency of such controls and for the simplification of the bureaucratic procedures.

Youth

The youth are in a very difficult situation at present. Many of them, because of lack of any occupation, are easily drawn into illegal activities.

We have to revive the system of technical-professional education to allow graduates of gymnasiums to learn well paid crafts. Moreover, we will try to determine the economic agents to hire graduates of higher education institutions who reside in Chisinau.

At the same time, we will ask that the municipal budget provide for funds to build houses for young families.

Veterans

Our movement will opt for keeping the benefits that the war and labour veterans enjoy at present for travelling in the public transportation, free medicines, and will encourage the setting up of funds of material support for the veterans, as well as increase the number of shops "Veteran" etc.